Dark Consumption
by TwitchySeaHorse
Summary: ...Dark and romanticy. Leon and OC Starlight. Enjoy.


**_Dark Consumption_**

**Chapter 1: "How badly I want to tell her."**

...One year before the Heartless attack Traverse Town...

_Those eyes..._

_Those haunting eyes..._

_They were coming for him..._

_There was no way that they would leave him alone..._

He awoke in a cold sweat. The nightmares that had been haunting him returned each night to deliver to him a torture that could not be matched by sword nor arrow. His eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, dimly lit by moonlight. It was only a few minutes past midnight. He heaved a heavy sigh and dropped back onto his pillow. It happened every night.

He would close his eyes and his mind would wander in and out of different thoughts before he was finally consumed by a state of unconsciousness. That same room would appear. Dark and dusty. A small glimmer of moonlight filtering through a small window in the middle of a wall was the only light. Sitting in a chair in front of the window was the shadow of a very young girl. She had her hair tied back in a tight ponytail, close to the top of her head, topped with a large bow. Her posture was perfect and her hands were folded in her lap. She was just like a doll. He would reach out to touch her, just to see if something so perfect was touchable. His hand was never visible, but he knew it was there. His reach fell short and he would take a step closer.

_"Squall..."_ said the girl in a soft voice. He would drop to his knees. That name. That name was so familiar, yet so strange. Was that his name? No, it couldn't be. That was what people used to call him. He had left Squall behind. Squall was nothing but a shadow of the past. A failure. The girl stood up. She walked over to him and looked down at him. All he could see was her black shadow and the irises of her bright cerulean blue eyes that seemed to be glowing.

_"You could have saved me..."_ she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I-I'm sorry," he said, burying his face in his hands. She shook her head. The bow in her hair fell to the floor and shattered like glass. Her hair, still a silhouette, cascaded down her shoulders and stopped at her waistline. She threw a hand into the air and cast her eyes upwards. Squeals and screams came from the ceiling. Black beings with large yellow eyes jumped from the ceiling and onto his back. Small claws met human flesh and the outcome was blood and pain. They were all chanting the same thing in a soft raspy voice:

_**"Give up your heart to the darkness..."**_

He yelled. He gasped for air. The pain was sharp and all over his body. It was no use. They weren't going to stop. They were going to keep slashing until he was dead...

_"Squall..."_

Somehow, the terror in his mind would force his eyes to open, thus relieving him from this dark prison. It happened every night. When the sun set, he would fear closing his eyes. Being awake was the only way to keep the horrid dream at bay.

There was a sudden knock on his door.

"Enter..." he said quietly. There was a click as the door opened to reveal the silhouette of a girl. She was tall, lean, and had curves worthy of a woman. She placed a hand on the wall and fumbled around for a light switch. There was a soft little clicking noise and the room was flooded with a bright light.

She was wearing a red tank top and baggy black-checkered pants for sleeping in. Her wavy dark violet hair stopped about midway down her back. She rubbed her dark blue eyes with a tanned hand, making the bracelets on her wrist shake towards her forearm.

"Leon, I heard you thrashing around in here..." she paused, "Did you have the dream again?" Leon sat up in his bed and tugged on the collar of his solid white t-shirt ever so slightly.

"Yes..." he said. He could never lie to her, no matter how much pain the truth might hurt them both. Her left eye twitched ever so slightly, indicating discomfort.

"Leon, what is it about this dream that troubles you so much?" she asked. He flinched. He was always straight forward with her, but he had never before told anybody of the context of his dreams.

"N-nothing..." he said, lying his head back on his pillow. He looked at the swirling fanblades casting slow rotating shadows on the ceiling. He heaved a heavy sigh and turned his back to her. "Go back to sleep Starlight... I'll be fine, I promise."

Starlight hesitated. Her hand was poised over the light switch and she stood in the doorway, debating whether to leave or to stay. Her routine was the same every night. There would be horrified gasps coming from Leon's bedroom, followed by the noise of him tossing and turning in bed. The noises would wake her from her slumber and before long, she would find herself in his doorway, asking him what was wrong.

And his response was always the same: "I'm fine...you should go back to sleep." She would always leave him alone and return to her bedroom, only to wake again to his terrified noises. They were both losing a lot of sleep over these dreams of his. It wasn't so much her health that she was worried about, but it was the health of Leon. His nightmares mixed with his insomnia and produced a cold hard attitude. He wasn't bitter, but he was distant.

Starlight wasn't going to let this happen anymore. She stood in his doorway and stared at him intently.

"Tell me about your dream..." she said. Leon kept his back to her and tried to look as if he were asleep. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. She placed a hand on his face and immediately his eyes popped open.

"Tell me about your dream and maybe it will go away..." she said.

"That's stupid, telling you about it will only make it worse by making you worry too. Go to sleep." he said. He picked up a pillow and buried his face with it. Starlight placed a hand on the pillow and moved it away from his face.

"Leon, telling me about your dream will make me stop worrying. I worry enough about your lack of sleep. Now tell me what it's about or I'll..."

"You'll what?" he asked emotionlessly, as if he really wanted to hear the answer. Starlight's brow furrowed. She hadn't thought of a worthy threat. He wasn't going to tell her, no matter how much she coaxed him. She stood up and walked to the door.

"Fine, don't tell me. It will just be the same way every night. I'll keep asking, and I'll keep worrying until you finally tell me what's wrong." Once again she stood in the doorway with her hand poised over the light switch.

"Goodnight Leon..." she turned the light off, exited the room, and closed the door.

Once again Leon was in the dark room alone, vulnerable to his night attacks. He missed her presence. He longed for her touch every night. He could never tell her about what bothered him, because he loved her too much to let her hurt for him. Half of the time, he believed that the dreams came from his desire to see her. He saw her every day, but it was brief, and nowhere near as pleasant as seeing her in the doorway to his bedroom, her face contorted with concern. He sighed and closed his eyes reluctantly, not wanting to have to relinquish his thoughts of Starlight and relive the terrors of his dreams.

**0o0o0 Starlight 0o0o0**

Starlight walked to her bed quietly. The springs squeaked as she sat down and swung her legs over the edge. This dream business had been going on for almost two weeks now, and she was tired of it. There had to be some way to help him.

She wished that she was able to see him more often than once a day. She worked in the eastern part of town, and he worked in the western. The only time she ever saw him was when she left in the mornings. She had made it a point to ask him what it was his job was, but the words in her mind would get scrambled and another question would end up working it's way out of her mouth: _What happens in those dreams of yours?_ She wanted desperately to know. Not to be nosy, but because she felt as if she could help him.

She sighed and lied her head down on her pillow, turning on her side and trying to get Leon out of her head. The minutes turned to hours and she was neither asleep nor awake. Her eyes were open, but her mind wasn't. The worry would consume her mind and leave it in a constant state of paranoia. A soft pink glow overcame the skies as the sun slowly began to rise. There was a loud thud like noise in Leon's room and Starlight snapped out of her daydream. He was leaving and she would miss her opportunity to see him. She ran a brush through her hair and opened her door. He had already strapped his Gunblade to his waist and was walking towards the exit.

"Leon, wait!" she called, finding her voice. He turned around and stared at her, a hollow look in his eyes. She walked over to him and resisted the urge to reach out and touch his face. She tried to ask him something, anything, that wasn't about his dreams but couldn't help herself.

"Leon, please tell me what's been bothering you. I really want to help you."

"I have to get to work," he said, turning back towards the door. She sighed and watched his figure get smaller and smaller as it fell out of her reach. Sighing and slumping her shoulders, she walked back to her room to get ready for her job. Nothing changed, everything was the same, just like it always had been.

**0o0o0 Leon0o0o0**

Leon walked farther and farther away from his home. It pained him to leave her in such a cold manner every day, but he knew that it was for her own good. He wanted to go back. He wanted to hold her frail frame in his arms and tell her what really bothered him. He wanted to tell her of the scars on his heart, and how she made them seem non-existent. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her how he felt inside, and how he had felt about her since the fateful day when they met. When he first came to Traverse Town, lost and confused, and how she had been kind enough to open up her heart and help him find a place to stay. But most of all, he wanted her not to hurt for him, so therefore, he couldn't tell her a thing.

Silently, and solemnly, he walked towards the western side of town. A man with gray, thinning hair was waiting for him.

"You're late," he said, sounding bitter. Leon kept his glare.

"Whatever," he said, "Just tell me what I have to do today..."

**0o0o0 Starlight 0o0o0**

Starlight arrived at her job in a hurry. She had a piece of toast sticking out of her mouth, and had barely even pulled up her jacket all the way. When she got to the large brown house in the eastern district, a very frugal woman stood outside. Her nose pointed upwards in a snootish sort of way, and her clothes were made of fine silks and furs.

"Lateness will not be tolerated any longer," she said in a French accent. Starlight removed the toast from her mouth and smoothed out her messed up hair.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mrs. Delecroix." Starlight said, bowing a bit at the waist, "It wont happen again." Mrs. Delecroix slanted her heavily make-uped eyes towards a large, luxurious limousine.

"Very well," she said, walking down the steps away from the house, "Thomas is inside. I expect that you wont be needing anymore instructions seeing as though you've been doing this for three years almost." Starlight nodded her head respectfully. "I'll be working late tonight, I should be home by around ten thirty." She boarded her car without even bothering to see if ten thirty was an okay time for Starlight. Starlight didn't mind though, no matter what time she go home, she wouldn't see Leon until he had another fit anyway.

**End Ch. 1**

My very first KH fic! I hope you enjoyed! I will update ASAP! (Although, good reviews tend to... fuel me hint hint) Well... Tootles!


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